Macron chairs restriction-marred National Day march
Paris, Jul 14 (EFE).- French President Emmanuel Macron presided over the traditional National Day military march in Paris on Wednesday despite significant health restrictions aiming to mitigate a new Covid-19 infection wave.
Members of the public attending the event were scaled down from the usual 25,000 to 10,000 onlookers, who had to wear face masks and carry Covid-19 certifications which proves vaccination, a negative test result or having recovered from the disease.
No foreign heads of state or government assisted the celebrations this year, due to the Covid-19 situation and travel complications.
A 5,000-strong military unit participated in the event, with some 4,400 uniformed men and women marching down the Champs-Élysées avenue.
The troops marched alongside 221 vehicles, 200 horses and 24 helicopters.
Spearheading the parade were 80 representatives of the European Takuba task force, a corps created with the contribution of eight countries and that is actively fighting terrorist groups in the African Sahel region.
In 2020, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the march was replaced with a ceremony in the Place de la Concorde.
The yearly celebration marks a crucial moment in the French Revolution, when the people of Paris on July 14, 1789, stormed the Bastille fortress, a prison that symbolizes absolute monarchy. EFE
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